It's easy to see why Santa Fe is one of the country's major art centers. The magnificent landscape and glorious light inspire artists of every genre. The city's unique multicultural blend also appeals to artists and to people who love to collect art.

Santa Fe's long history with the visual arts stretches back more than a century, when European and American artists were drawn here by the region's natural beauty and native cultures. We've since evolved into a world-renowned art market featuring cutting-edge contemporary art by artists from around the world along with traditional painting styles and subject matter. Many Native American and Hispanic artists in Santa Fe continue to work with the tools and techniques of their ancestors, but others have taken off in new directions, blending tradition with entirely new material.

Art is everywhere in Santa Fe. Canyon Road is one entire mile mostly made up of art galleries. Walk down any other downtown street, and you'll encounter dozens more. Santa Fe galleries have become famous for their Friday night art openings where crowds gather to meet the artists and enjoy the scene.

The city has more than ten museums, four of them state-run, and they exhibit a wide variety of local and traveling exhibits each year along with their permanent exhibits. Innovative art centers add even more to the city's rich art life with a steady calendar of performances, exhibits and programs. Public art enhances our parks, monuments, buildings, city streets and even our buses.

Art and craft shows take place practically every weekend in Santa Fe, including the Santa Fe Society of Artists shows held around town from April through October. The Northern New Mexico Fine Arts & Crafts Guild's shows take place on Lincoln Avenue in early July and late September and in Cathedral Park in late September. The Santa Fe Artist Market on Saturdays occurs in spring and summer at the Casa Solana Shopping Center on West Alameda. Girls Inc. hosts an annual juried show the first weekend in August on the Plaza and the Santa Fe Council for the Arts holds Art in the Park shows in Cathedral Park just off the Plaza in mid-August and on the first weekend in October. You'll find amazing treasures at these shows and meet artists you probably can't find anywhere else.

So many artists live in Santa Fe and in surrounding communities that they've joined together for annual open studio tours, held in communities where they live. These tours tend to draw crowds because they provide visitors with a chance to meet artists in their workspace and to buy art directly from the artists.

Spend just a little time here and you'll quickly see that art is the heart of Santa Fe.